U.S. panel asks Valeant to justify withholding documents

March 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee stepped
up the pressure on Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc
on Thursday, urging the company to explain why
it was withholding documents related to an investigation into
drug pricing.

The House Oversight Committee had sent a letter to Chief
Executive Michael Pearson last August, seeking documents about
steep hikes in prices of two of the company's heart drugs.

The drugmaker rejected the request in September, saying the
information was "highly proprietary and confidential", the
committee said in a statement on Thursday.

The committee said it had sent another letter to Pearson
last week, seeking descriptions of each undisclosed document,
the total number of pages of each document withheld, and the
rationale behind the withholding. (1.usa.gov/222CLrJ)

Valeant's business and accounting practices came under
regulatory scrutiny late last year. The company's shares have
tumbled around 75 percent since their record-high of $263.81 in
August.

They were trading down slightly at $66.75 on Thursday.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb
Chakrabarty)